Our approach will enable a step change in promoting research inclusion across all of the work of ARC NWC Phase 2 from the research workforce, participation in research and public involvement in research.

Year 1 focus will be on support for dissemination, training aids and data capture will be facilitated by staff within the core team. Training  materials will be sourced from HEIs, ARCs and literature searches, and new resources developed where required, supported by  our Comms/web development teams. These will be curated and maintained on our website. This is pump-primed in year one then  absorbed into core activities within ARC NWC Phase 2.

Time for staff to use the training materials will be supported through partner co-funding, but access to the resources will be open on our website, as it is with ForEquity.uk.

We will monitor and evaluate inclusion across all ARC NWC Phase 2 work including establishing a baseline and systems to monitor inclusivity of research participants (e.g. trial recruitment), workforce (by grade and leadership role), PhD students, Interns and Fellows, and public advisors.

Metrics will include age, ethnicity, disability, gender and other relevant characteristics. Regular progress reports will be provided to the management groups and steering board and action taken where progress is not being made. Staff development reviews will include discussion about inclusion training updating needs, achievements, roles and leadership, particularly among early/mid-career researchers and our support staff.

We will identify barriers for staff with protected characteristics, age or gender bias from progress and achieving their potential within the ARC, and agree solutions to overcome them.

Inclusion in the research workforce

ARC NWC Phase 2 will integrate co-developed equity mainstreaming policies across our core team and the contributions of our partner organisations, embracing NIHR’s five core themes. To widen inclusion in the workforce we will develop a mentoring scheme for early career researchers from underrepresented groups and adapt our capacity building and career development opportunities for these groups.

Internships and PhD opportunities will be developed with the aim of maximizing the opportunities for encouraging applications from underrepresented groups.

Inclusion in the research lifecycle

Inclusion will be systematically applied across the lifecycle for all ARC NWC Phase 2 research starting with mandatory equity assessment and monitoring, employing our co-developed ForEquity toolkit (https://ForEquity.uk). It provides diversity and inclusion elements, an equity thermometer and screening tool, and access to a range of quality-marked resources on equity, diversity and inclusion, ensuring projects consider intersectional inequalities across socioeconomic and protected characteristics.

Through a capital NIHR grant to ARC NWC and the regional CRN and ICBs, we have equipped community engagement spaces in 22 GP Primary Care Network (PCN) hubs in areas of high need and low assets, plus four mobile engagement units. Working with our public advisors we will support the

PPIEP groups in each of the 22 primary care sites to reach into communities normally not included within research, raising awareness of opportunities for people to get involved in research and supporting their involvement. This will include commissioning VCSFE organisations with good connections to these communities through our CoREN to support the widening of research participation.

There will be joint ventures between the Research Delivery Network North West, ARC NWC Phase 2 and Integrated Care NIHR Applied Research Collaborations 2024 (ARCs)Boards.

Supporting inclusion in partner initiatives

ARC NWC Phase 2 will support initiatives such as the subregional ‘Citizen First’ Scheme to link successful proposals with ARC NWC partners, public advisors and our academic resources, to embed equity, health inequalities and facilitate co-production of their enterprise and its evaluation through to impact.

This initiative enables entrepreneurs from disadvantaged communities to access funding and expertise to deliver innovation that reducing health inequalities. It offers living wage and start-up funding to enable new businesses to address challenges in applied health/care from entrepreneurs who would not normally be able to attract funding and expert support.